Setting the scene with the sound of footsteps steps approaching, we are then suddenly immersed into Inn of the Dawn Horse, as Half Shadow sings “my hair is long, black and braided” in a conceptual universe filled with intricate guitar and doubled drums, with enigmatic movement and transcendental soundscapes.
Moonless (Unmoored) opens with mysterious guitar and a cosmic frequency, as Half Shadow questions, “what is it that you’re hiding?”. We love the intimacy of the design of the song with immersive and emotional strings, fused with the artist’s brand of cerebral lyricism.
At Home With My Candles is Half Shadow’s third LP, which was recorded almost entirely in quarantine adding that nostalgic sonic edge. The series of songs document “the beauty and strangeness that domestic life can conjure, at once ordinary and utterly mystical”.
Overall, the record features an intimate folk vibe cohesively fused with moment of anthemic chant alongs like “I sleep with you” in Song for the Garden.
When discussing influences, Half Shadow references surrealists including Leonora Carrington, whose famous self-portrait inspired the name and vibe of the opening track.
The non-linear and chaotic lyricism also draws influence from surrealism. Taking us through descriptors and themes of some of the tracks, Half Shadow states:
Eternity grows from the psychedelic soil of the yard (“Song for the Garden”), enigmatic presences stalk a darkened bedroom (“In My Room (A Creature Approaches)”), and a lover’s whispered voice opens the entryway to a clandestine beach (“Flame (Flower in the Air)”).
Wider themes touch upon the human condition, the duality of light and dark, self-realization, the existential experience, beauty, generosity, going inward and the cosmic reality (particularly on #8) that we co-exist within.
Speaking on the creation of the project, Half Shadow says, “What began as a thematically synchronistic project grew into a timely and urgent contemplation: how do we truly relate to these spaces that we inhabit, habitually, unconsciously; that hold us in our most fragile moments and challenge us in their monotony? Play host to our deepest fantasies and fears, joys and strifes, creative workings, personal successes and failures? How do we love in these spaces, find connection, grieve, and grow? How are houses like a skin—a mind, a body—in which we must live and leap, finding the strength to risk a more complex life?”
Or as the song A Full Day Spent (Between the Worlds) confirms: “how does one find themselves in the house / when on every door comes a ceaseless knocking / that refuses to stop?”
We are in awe of the artist’s contemplative lyricism and the mystery and enigmatic approach that he has taken to his art. One of our favourites on the album is In My Room (A Creature Approaches) as he sings, “I’m not waiting, I’m not waiting on the world”. We love the chaotic strings and the moody frequency that the artist emanates in this track.
#8 is the final track and features the profound lyrics “where spirit never dies” as Half Shadow delivers cosmic lyricism and throught provoking concepts as the outro for the record.
In My Room (A Creature Approaches) and #8 have been added to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and we have also been exploring Half Shadow’s wider discography including his previous albums Dream Weather Its Electric Song and Wind Water Passion Daughter.